2012 one of "bloodiest years" for journalists-media body

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Last Updated: Mon, Dec 31, 2012 16:40 hrs

* Syria, Somalia top list of most dangerous spots for
journalists

* Death toll of 121 journalists in 2012, up from 107 in
previous year

BRUSSELS, Dec 31 (Reuters) - A heavy death toll in war zones
such as Syria and Somalia made 2012 one of the bloodiest years
for journalists, with 121 killed, an international journalists'
group said on Monday.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists
(IFJ) said the figure was up from 107 journalists and other
media workers killed in targeted attacks, bomb blasts and
cross-fire incidents in 2011.

The heavy casualties were the result of a "systematic
failure by governments and the United Nations to fulfil their
international obligations to protect and enforce journalists'
basic right to life", the group said.

"The death toll for 2012 is another indictment of
governments which pay lip service to the protection of
journalists but have consistently failed to stop their
slaughter," Jim Boumelha, IFJ president, said in a statement.

Syria, where more than 45,000 people are estimated to have
been killed in a 21-month revolt against President Bashar
al-Assad, topped the list of the most dangerous countries for
media in 2012, with 35 journalists or other media workers
killed.

The IFJ said 18 journalists had been killed in 2012 in
Somalia, where African peacekeepers are battling al Qaeda-linked
Islamist rebels, turned the country into a media killing field.

Organised crime in Mexico and insurgents in Pakistan were
blamed for the 10 journalists killed in each of those countries
during the year.

Five each were killed in Iraq and the Philippines.

The IFJ, which represents more than 600,000 journalists in
134 countries, said that, in many cases, journalists were
deliberately targeted because of their work and with the aim of
silencing them.

The group said it was counting on a new U.N. plan of action
on the safety of journalists to deliver. The plan includes
helping countries draw up laws promoting freedom of expression,
awareness campaigns about media freedoms and threats to
journalists, and guidance on keeping journalists safe.

The IFJ's figure for journalists' deaths was higher than the
total reported by a Paris-based rights group on Dec. 19. That
group, Reporters Without Borders, said 88 journalists were
killed doing their job in 2012, more than in any year since
monitoring started 17 years ago.
(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Alison Williams)